


I'm the perfect stranger who knows you too well

by that_one_british_alien_from_doctor_who (nancynotruth)



Series: I'm Alive [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, One Big Happy Family, Read this if you want something to make you smile :), The Doctor is Happy for Once, The conversation quickly becomes complicated, Timey-Wimey, Very fluffy, Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey....Stuff, Yaz wants to know how the Doctor and River met
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:28:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nancynotruth/pseuds/that_one_british_alien_from_doctor_who
Summary: After escaping from the Ice Spider for the final time, the Doctor, her wife, and her fam are resting up in the Tardis when Yaz asks the first question, the oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight: "So, how did you two meet?"
Relationships: The Doctor/River Song, Thirteenth Doctor/River Song
Series: I'm Alive [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646245
Comments: 11
Kudos: 161





	I'm the perfect stranger who knows you too well

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jacqueline_Gillian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacqueline_Gillian/gifts), [River Song (anon)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=River+Song+%28anon%29).



“So…” Yaz asked awkwardly, breaking into the silent, loving stare that the Doctor and River (Melody? Yaz was so confused) had been sharing for the last ten minutes straight. Now that the Doctor had acknowledged River’s existence, they didn’t seem to be able to look away from each other. “How did you two meet?” 

The Doctor grimaced slightly, turning her stare from River’s eyes to the large fire in the middle of the floor. 

The second time the giant ice spider had given chase, they weren’t able to run fast enough. It was one of Ryan’s bad days, and the shock of seeing River again had taken a lot out of the Doctor. They’d had to hide under a large pile of snow for hours, until Graham was nearly blue and Yaz’s teeth were chattering so hard she couldn’t talk. As soon as they’d dragged their nearly hypothermic bodies back to the Tardis, the Doctor had led them into a room with a huge fire pit in the center of the floor containing a roaring magenta fire, and a large supply of blankets. There were marshmallows and chestnuts for roasting, but when Ryan had attempted to spear a marshmallow on a pointed stick, his hands were shaking so much that he nearly impaled his palm. After that, the Doctor had taken all the marshmallows for herself “until you can be trusted,” and then proceeded to eat every last one. River had watched her with an indulgent smile, her eyes narrowing almost predatorily as the Doctor licked marshmallow from her fingers. 

It was almost half an hour later, and the Fam had warmed up, hands nearly steady and faces back to their normal color. The entire time, they’d been buzzing with questions they were too shaky or nervous to ask. Who was this woman, and how did she know the Doctor? Were they really married? Why hadn’t the doctor ever mentioned her before? Now that she’d finally gotten up the courage to ask, Yaz was afraid she’d crossed an invisible line. She’d done it before, accidentally blowing her nose in Japan and stepping forward with her left foot first in front of the Grand Marali of Ploth. Yaz knew that when the Doctor’s lines had been crossed, she was far more frightening than the combined armies of Ploth, all of which had been unfortunately deployed against Yaz. But just as she began to apologize, hoping to repair the damage before the oncoming storm, the Doctor spoke. 

“That’s a bit of a tricky question, Yaz,” she said, contemplatively. “Answering might be more trouble than it’s worth.” 

“Oh, come on, Sweetie,” River said, throwing her head back in a quick laugh. “You haven’t told your _fam_ anything about me, why not start with when we met?” She shot Yaz a quick wink, but Yaz didn’t know what for. Still, she winked back, and River smiled. 

“Well, fam,” the Doctor started, and Ryan nudged Graham, who had begun to fall asleep in the drowsy warmth of the fire. “The first thing you need to know is that I’m not the only time traveller out there. The second thing you need to know is that River has a vortex manipulator. The third thing you need to know is that vortex manipulators are cheap and nasty time travel, and why anyone would ever…”

“Stay on track, Sweetie,” River reminded her fondly, almost unconsciously caressing the black bracelet on her wrist. 

“Oh, right. So, now you know River’s a time traveller, and you already knew that I’m a time traveller too. The thing about us is that we never meet in the right order, and figuring out the first time we met is a very tricky concept. Are you sure you want to know?” 

“Lay it on us, Doc,” Graham said. 

“I’m sure we can handle it,” Yaz seconded. Ryan nodded, not quite warm enough to trust his voice. 

“Well, you just saw the first time I met her in this body. But, in all of my regenerations, the first time I met River was in the Library, back when I was a right skinny man with all that great hair,” the Doctor said, smiling a bit, but her eyes were tinged with a sadness that Yaz could only hope she never understood, and that Graham recognized all too well. 

“And the first time I met her,” River continued, “I was a black woman named Mels and she was my mum’s imaginary friend.” 

“But, then again, the first time I met her she had just been born and she was actually a ganger.” 

“And the first time I met _her_ , I was married to a cyborg king and I had absolutely no idea who she was!”

“We almost died that day,” the Doctor said happily, and River beamed at her. 

“Hang on, didn’t you say something about killing her?” Asked Ryan, pointing from River to the Doctor, and Yaz raised her eyebrows; she’d forgotten all about that. 

“Which time?” River asked, laughing again. “Do try to stay on track, if we talk about the first times we met _and_ all the times I killed her, she’ll regenerate of old age before we’re even close to done.” 

“Alright, fine,” Ryan said, shrugging. “I just thought it was a bit weird.” 

“You know what was weird?” The Doctor said, turning to River with a gleam in her eye that was far too rare in recent times. “The last time I checked up on Jim the Fish, he’d finished his dam!” 

“ _No!”_ River said, slapping her hand on the Doctor’s upper arm for emphasis, and then curling it around her bicep as the Doctor blushed bright pink. “What ever will he do now?” 

“He’s decided to go into the retail business, renting it out to Andrew the Porcupine up the way. You know, I think I have some pictures in my room!”

“Well, by all means,” River said, standing up and pulling the Doctor with her. “Let’s go to you room and _look._ ” The Doctor darkened from pink to a color almost identical to the fireplace’s fuchsia flames. 

“Bye, guys!” She said quickly, grabbing River’s hand and dashing out of the room. “Stay warm!” She called over her shoulder, and then they were gone. 

“We never did get a real answer to Yaz’s question,” Ryan said, pulling another blanket over himself. 

“I guess it was just too complicated,” Yaz shrugged, spearing a chestnut on one of the sharp metal poles. 

“You leave it be, son,” Graham said, looking after the Doctor and her wife with a sad smile. “You just leave it be.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! Comments and kudos are, as always, what keeps me going. If you liked this, please check out the other two stories in this series!


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